The room felt like it was breathing, like the walls themselves had lungs and they were expanding with relief, joy, disbelief, and something so fragile nobody dared to name it too loudly in case it shattered, but Nathaniel's voice slipped through all of it with calm authority, soft but commanding enough to steady the emotional storm that threatened to take over.
"Scarlet," he said gently, his eyes never leaving her face as though he was reading every flicker of doubt and courage battling inside her, "if you feel ready, let's try something small. Just a shift, a beginning."
The word beginning hung in the air like a promise nobody had dared to hope for until this exact moment.
Scarlet's eyes widened instantly, the fragile glow in them trembling as fear and hope collided so visibly
